UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Russia and Ukraine traded blame Monday at the U.N. Security Council for the attack on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said the attack brought the world “dangerously close to a nuclear disaster.” . ”
Without attributing responsibility, IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he could confirm three attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant since April 7.
Ukraine denies Russia’s claims about drone attack on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant
“These reckless attacks must end immediately,” he told the Security Council. “Fortunately, we did not have a radioactive accident in this case, but the risk increases significantly when nuclear safety is already compromised.”
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, is visible in the background of the shallow Kakhovka reservoir after a dam collapse, Tuesday, June 27, 2023, in Russian-occupied Enerkhodar, Ukraine. Officials at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant said: The power plant was attacked by Ukrainian military drones on Sunday, April 7, 2024, including an attack on the dome of the plant’s No. 6 generator. (AP Photo/Rivkos)
Grossi told reporters after the meeting that because the drone that attacked the factory could be controlled remotely, it was impossible to definitively determine who fired it.
“You need evidence to say something like that,” he said. “These attacks were carried out with large numbers of drones.”
Zaporizhia is located in Russian-controlled territory in southeastern Ukraine and has six nuclear reactors.
Fears of nuclear holocaust have been at the forefront since Russian forces occupied the plant shortly after their invasion in February 2022. Continuing fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces and the tense supply situation at the nuclear power plant are raising fears of a disaster.
Ukraine and its allies again on Monday blamed Russia for the dangers on the ground, with the United States saying “Russia does not care about these risks.”
“If that were the case, we would not continue to forcibly control nuclear power plants,” U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told a Security Council meeting led by the U.S. and Slovenia.
Russia said Ukraine was responsible for the attack.
“The IAEA report does not identify who is behind the attack,” Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia said. “We know very well who it is.”
“In recent months, these attacks have not only resumed, but have significantly intensified,” Nebenzia said.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kislysha, called the attack a “well-planned false flag operation by the Russian Federation” and said it was planned by Russia to distract the world from its invasion of its neighbor. insisted.
The Zaporizhia facility is one of the ten largest nuclear power plants in the world. The fighting in southern Ukraine has raised concerns about the possibility of a nuclear disaster similar to Chernobyl in 1986, when a nuclear reactor exploded, spraying deadly radiation over a vast area.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine have been able to make significant advances in recent months along a 1,000-kilometer front that cuts across eastern and southern Ukraine. Drones, artillery, and missiles played a major role in this war of attrition.
Russia and Ukraine have frequently exchanged accusations over the Zaporizhzhia plant.
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The IAEA said the recent attacks did not jeopardize facilities designed to withstand collisions with commercial airliners.
The plant’s six reactors have been shut down for months, but they still require power and qualified staff to operate critical cooling systems and other safety features.
